Monday, November 16, 2009

Waving Goodbye to Kragthorpe...

I attended the UofL v. Syracuse football game on Saturday. I did this for one reason...to see Greg Paulus get laid out. Luckily, that happened a few times, see:Now then, while I was just attending to see Paulus get rocked...I was also attending with hopes that the game would be exciting and we might actually get a win. Well, the game was not exciting...in fact it was the most boring UofL game I've ever seen...ever. There were approximately ZERO chances to cheer through the first three quarters and when Syracuse scored a touchdown...it appeared the Cards were headed for a gross defeat!

That's when I turned to Lautaro and said, "This crowd needs the wave!"

What followed can only be described as the most exciting thing to happen to UofL Football since the Orange Bowl in January 2007. Normally, I'm not a gigantic fan of the wave. You usually only get about 50% participation and it takes away from what's happening on the field. Now then, since the stadium was only about half full and the taking attention away from the game was my number one goal...I figured it was the perfect chance to make a difference.

So Lautaro and I stood up and yelled and waved...and then stood up and yelled and waved...and then stood up and yelled and waved. Soon about 100 other fans around us joined in the fun. We continued standing and yelling and waving, standing and yelling and waving and soon the wave began to make the full loop of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, skipping effortlessly over the open end of the field.

As the wave grew...so did our enthusiasm. We stood and yelled and waved, stood and yelled and waved and stood and yelled and waved some more. With each rotation the wave gained steam. Syracuse fans even joined in (they were winning after all). Soon, the whole stadium was whipped into a frenzy and the wave was going like I've never seen before.

The funniest part was the fact that it just kept going and going and going. Normal waves last about 5-6 times around the stadium but I'm not exaggerating when I say ours was pushing 20!

Nevertheless, it got the crowd excited and what followed can only be described as a miracle. Trent Guy put the Cards a head with a 92 yard punt return for a TD...and then it was overturned because his knee was down when he caught it. (Although I hear the -1 yard return was actually the play of the game on TV...I'm not kidding). But then, the Cards got the ball back again, with the crowd still buzzing from the wave, and scored a TD to win the game 10-9! It was magic.

While one would think the talk of the town would be about the players big plays and the unexpected Cardinal win...the Wave was actually making headlines.

It was mentioned twice in the Courier Journal:

"Shortly after that, a large portion of the announced crowd of 33,223 in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium started doing the “wave.” As out of place as it seemed at a point when the Cards were trailing, it was hardly the only time a double-take was in order." - C.L. Brown

" (Trent) Guy didn't come to UofL to listen to complaints about a coach who didn't recruit him or to watch the home crowd resort to tricks like the “wave” cheer for fourth-quarter entertainment, the way Cardinals fans did Saturday." - Rick Bozich

Also, the awesome blog Card Chronicle mentioned the Wave in his post game recap:"I wasn't there but I heard the wave exhibition put on by Louisville fans was the most impressive one in sports since circa 1988 in the Astrodome."

The wave also dominated the talk of Cardinal fans on the message boards:From CardinalSports.com"Who said The Wave was dead? Doing the wave for almost a hour yesterday was more interesting and fun than watching what was going on in the game."

"I have never seen a fanbase start a wave after falling behind in the 4th quarter. The game was tied up 3 to 3 and then Syracuse scored a TD. Next thing I know a wave cheer begins! What the hell was that all about? Don't you usually start a wave cheer when the game is in hand? You guys are really strange"

"This is Louisville football; nothing makes much sense right now. At least the fans that were there had some fun."

"2 idiots in front of us in section 211 started it. They wouldn't stop either and it was wearing everybody out. I've never heard boos during the wave...thought that was pretty funny. I guess that's more like a Tsunami??"-

"When our hopes for a scoreless tie evaporated, there was nothing left to do but start a wave. Kudo's to the "idiots" in section 211. I thought it was great..."

"With a boring game, the wave sure did wake me back up"From Insidetheville.com"Does anybody know how long the longest wave EVER was? I'm thinking we were close today - it must have gone around 15-20 times? Is this a clear message to the administration of how the crowd was so bored with what was happening on the field this kind of distraction just went on and on? We're thinking LOTS of big beachballs for the final home game. "

"I think the wave was the most fun i have had all year at a game...thats pretty sad."

"It's not how many people, it's the fact that it went on and on around the stadium, through several sets of plays... on and on... and it was the most fun I've had in the stadium all season especially when it just didn't die..."

"I was sitting behind those that started the wave and it was (out of) total boredom."

"Man, harsh critics on here. That wave was AWESOME! I mean, when was the last time you even saw the wave, it had been years for me. I thought it showed great spirit by the fans. We were going to have fun regardless of the game. I'm glad we won too. Can't lose to Syracuse 3 years in a row. I actually had a great time at the game yesterday."

"My daughter came to the game, that was the first wave she ever saw, and she had a blast doing it."

"(The wave) Was EPIC, started out as boredom but turned into a pretty neat unified effort."

As you can see, there are some who didn't appreciate it (especially if you read the threads I linked). But overall it threw some life back into the game and ultimately led the Cards to victory.

The best part were the two guys behind us that kept saying, "You guys are legendary! You can tell your grandkids about this!" You should sit here every game, usually the people who have your seats never show up!"

So yeah, while I'll still give the players the majority of the credit for the win...I'm certainly taking more credit then Kragthorpe.

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